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First Chinese Settlers
The first Chinese to settle in Canada were 50 artisans who accompanied Captain John Meares in 1788 to help build a trading post and encourage trade in sea otter pelts between Guangzhou, China and Nootka Sound. -
First Chinese Community in Canada
In 1858, Chinese immigrants began arriving from San Francisco as gold prospectors in the Fraser River valley, and Barkerville, BC, became the first Chinese community in Canada. By 1860, the Chinese population of Vancouver Island and BC was estimated to be 7,000. -
Chinese Canadians Banned from Voting in BC
The British Columbia legislative assembly passes a law banning Chinese Canadians from voting. Previously, Chinese Canadian men cou -
Manzo Nagano Settles in Victoria
The first known immigrant from Japan, Manzo Nagano, settled in Victoria, BC. The first wave of Japanese immigrants, called Issei (first generation), arrived between 1877 and 1928. By 1914, 10,000 people of Japanese ancestry had settled permanently in Canada. -
Chinese Labourers and the CPR
Some 15,000 Chinese labourers completed the British Columbia section of the CPR, with more than 600 of them perishing under adverse working conditions during this essential construction. Largely because of the trans-Canada railway, Chinese communities developed across the nation. -
Electoral Franchise Act
The original draft of the Act gave federal voting rights to some women, but under the final legislation, only men can vote. The Act gives some Reserve First Nations with property qualifications the right to vote, but bars Chinese Canadians. -
Chinese Head Tax
Chinese migrants were obligated to pay a $50 "entry" or "head" tax before being admitted into Canada. The Chinese were the only ethnic group required to pay a tax to enter Canada. By 1903, the head tax was increased to $500; the number of Chinese who paid the fee in the first fiscal year dropped from 4719 to 8. -
Japanese Canadians Lose the Right to Vote in BC
British Columbia amends the Provincial Voters’ Act to remove the right to vote from Japanese Canadians. -
First Sikhs in Canada
The first Sikhs came to Canada at the turn of the 20th century. Some came to Canada as part of the Hong Kong military contingent en route to Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (1897) and the coronation of Edward VII (1902), and returned to Canada to establish themselves in British Columbia. More than 5,000 South Asians, more than 90 per cent of them Sikhs, came to British Columbia before their immigration was banned in 1908. -
Federal Government Returns Determination of Voters to Provinces
Provinces are given the right to decide who can vote in provincial elections. Some exclude Chinese Canadians from voting provincially. However, federal legislation allows Chinese Canadians to vote in federal elections. -
Royal Commission on Chinese and Japanese Immigration
The federal government appointed a Royal Commission on Chinese and Japanese Immigration, which concluded that the Asians were "unfit for full citizenship ... obnoxious to a free community and dangerous to the state."